To start with O'Loughlin at 6 is ludicrous. It's totally unfair on Lockers, and offers us little chance of playing how we should. He's an out and out loose forward, and probably the best in SL, so why move him to stand off?

He shouldn't have been moved to 6 on Sunday and certainly shouldn't start there on Friday! Sam at 6, Roberts at 1, Pat at 5 and O'Loughlin at 13 is surely the only way to go given the squad we have announced?

If Roberts isn't fit and in form, he shouldn't have been picked and if that's the case then it's a huge error from Maguire.

Watch him have a blinder now

No.



Feka is playing so if its a case of needs must with him then I don't see the problem of picking either of Roberts or Phelps even if they aren't going to be here next year. Next year is next year and the idea is to win the thing at every opportunity. Looking to next year and so putting out a poorer side than you can is not the right way to go about things so I doubt that is behind it. I wish I knew what was because it's crazy.



Ditto.

Dave

Another concern I have is that although with O'Loughlin at 6 we may still struggle to a win, we're not going to win big, and given Saints pick their opponents at the end of the weekend, I'd like to win in as much style as possible to dissuade them from picking us, as I think a trip to Headingley offers us an easier (although still very difficult!) route to Old Trafford.

I don't think it's that desperately bad a situation.

Ideally, we'd have Lockers at 13 and not at 6, but other than the changes for that positional switch, everything else is pretty strong.

We've seen Saints cope with losing 1 (and indeed both) of their halves this season, and the quality in the team has been enough for them to win games. I've seen enough of Wigan this season to believe that if the team plays as well as it has done, we can win the match despite this.

Assuming tinytim is correct (and he usually is) we've got arguably the best 6 and 13 in SL both playing out of position when there is no need?

At least the prop situation seems sorted. We might get away with it on Friday, but is anyone confident with this situation in two further games against Stains, Whinos or the Dire if we want to win the title?

This makes me think Deacon will be ok should we progress to the semi. Mcguire probably doesn't want to shuffle the back line much.

I'll be over the moon if we play Wigan with TL/SOL in the halves.

Then again, Deacon doesn't concern me in the slightest either.

The feeling's mutual when I see Saints line up with a 6 and 7 of Wilkin and Moore.

It was just beginners luck with Matty Smith last week.

I think O'Loughlin at 6 is not as bad as it is being made out. He has a very good cut-out passing game, allows us to play an extra forward with a bit more oomph (O'Loughlin for me is excellent at precise contact points in the tackle to not get dominated, but generally not as much impact as say Joel), which will hopefully mean we will not get dominated again.

On the other hand, O'Loughlin does not have the speed a decent 6 should have. The same can be said for Deacon, however Deacon more than makes up for it in organisation, kicking game, choices in passing. This may be recouped by the fact that O'Loughlin in attack could be just laying a platform for deep standoff/full back play for Sam, which as we know can work wonders in attack.

Sam can kick from fullback, it isn't impossible, just less choice meaning more pressure on him and Tommy near the end of each set. With Riddells distribution I think we would be OK if they position correctly, but I still don't trust McIlorum's deep distribution yet.

But for me the biggest loss by moving O'Loughlin to 6 is the loss of a pivot. All year we have more or less played with 4 pivots - O'Loughlin, Leuluai, Sam and either Deacon, Phelps or Roberts. Even if one had tried to make a break as opposed to passing (Sam ) we would always have a 3-deep attacking line, which is by far and away the best way to break a line in my view. By not having the 4th pivot and simply having 3 second rowers (a bit like Aus) we will have a different dynamic in attack, where individual brilliance may have to play more of a role than a good structured attacking line. Whether this works or not against Hull KR is yet to be seen, but I think this is the direction we may be taking in the next match...and I'm not sure we should be changing this dynamic this late in the season.

...or I could just be reading too far into it

let's wait and see eh. IMO I would move Sam back to 6 and put Amos on the wing , lets face it if he not 100% you would rather have Pat at 1 to deal with Dobsons kicking threat although both wings will have to be on their toes too . lets just hope it will be alright on the night and lets face it I would like to think Madge knows what he is doing , he has been watching the 20's games and I am sure he has done what he thinks is right so who are we to argue .

For me Roberts should be playing with Sam at 6. Pat defending at 1 with Roberts at 1 in attack and if he seems confident keep him there in defence aswell so he can bring the ball back from kicks.